"Asking once more, is anyone bidding on this A Guide to Elementary Formations? If not, this item will be directly withdrawn from the auction, and we will begin the bidding for the next item."
Seeing that not a single person in the entire auction hall was offering a bid, Mittel Tengshan, who had been bragging for quite a while earlier, felt a bit flushed with embarrassment.
"Sigh, I knew this A Guide to Elementary Formations would likely fail to sell, but Old Hai insisted I bring it out for some 'waste utilization.' Now look at this, I can't even find a way to save face and get off the stage..."
Given the situation, Mittel Tengshan couldn't help but grumble in his heart.
One must know that if it hadn't been for Old Hai mentioning it, he was prepared to use this book, A Guide to Elementary Formations, to steady the corner of a table at home! After all, in this world, who among those capable of playing with Dou Qi would bother with formations?
In the world of Battle Through the Heavens, something must have happened in the past that caused the inheritance of things like formations and artifact refining to be almost completely severed. Only the path of alchemy had truly flowed down to the present.
Wait, that's not entirely accurate. Although formations and artifact refining still exist in the current world, relatively speaking, these two professions are far too niche!
Setting aside artifact refining for a moment and speaking only of formations: in this world, formations are mostly used to guard places like sects or clans.
While there are some high-power formations used for offense, such formations are generally set up in advance by one side before the fight between enemies begins. As for wanting to temporarily set up a formation to kill enemies during a battle, you are simply dreaming!
It's likely that before your formation is even halfway set up, the enemy will have already finished you off. In such a situation, how could one set up a formation during a temporary confrontation?
One must know that even with some sect-guarding formations, similar to the Covering Sun Cloud Formation of the Yun Lan Sect, they require a large amount of resources to maintain even when they are not activated.
Once activated, the consumption of resources increases several times over. Only a giant like the Yun Lan Sect with their massive assets can afford it; a Dou Wang clan like the Xiao Clan simply cannot sustain the consumption of such a large-scale formation!
Additionally, if you set up a formation in advance, some people might inadvertently destroy it. When all these factors are combined, the result is that in the world of Battle Through the Heavens, there is no future in playing with formations!
Looking through the entire original story, has a single Formation Grandmaster ever appeared? The answer is no. Perhaps only people with truly no talent for Dou Qi would consider becoming a Formation Grandmaster.
Furthermore, if you only know how to set up small formations, it is still useless.
Even if you can set up large formations, once a sect has had you set up a large formation for them, you are still of no further use to them. It is precisely because of this that Formation Grandmasters in this world can be described as being as common as dirt on the roadside!
After all, some formations can be set up even if you aren't a Formation Grandmaster, so why would anyone need you?
The reason the Dou Qi Continent's path regarding formations is so deformed is most likely due to the severance of inheritance, leading to the decline of Formation Grandmasters. However, Xiao Lin knew that in the world above this one—
The Great Thousand World—Formation Grandmasters flourished spectacularly!
In that incomparably brilliant world, the path of formations has a complete inheritance.
Therefore, in the Great Thousand World, the status of Formation Grandmasters is quite high. Powerful Formation Grandmasters there can even set up a heaven-shaking formation in an instant to meet an enemy.
Even weaker Formation Grandmasters can instantly create a powerful formation using a formation plate. It can be said that Formation Grandmasters in the Great Thousand World are capable of setting up formations at any time during a battle.
This naturally gives their status a different level of height.
Although Xiao Lin hadn't thought about instantly reaching the height of a Great Thousand World Formation Grandmaster, starting from the basics and preparing in advance for the day he would rely on his grandson's coattails to ascend to the Great Thousand World was still fine.
Anyway, there was still quite a long time before the original plot would begin.
He could take this opportunity to study formations when he was free, adding a new side profession for himself. Since he couldn't become an Alchemist, becoming a Formation Grandmaster—known as a Spirit Array Master in the Great Thousand World—should be no problem, right?
Although Xiao Lin didn't know if he could succeed, it was always worth a try. Thus, just as A Guide to Elementary Formations was about to fail to sell, Xiao Lin finally spoke.
"11,000 gold coins."
Xiao Lin's voice clearly spread throughout the entire auction venue and also reached the ears of Mittel Tengshan on the auction stage.
The next second, with a "swish," everyone's eyes simultaneously converged on VIP Private Room No. 6 on the second floor—the room where Xiao Lin was located. Even the auctioneer Mittel Tengshan on the stage was momentarily dazed.
He really didn't expect it! Right on the eve of him announcing the failure to sell, a kind-hearted person had actually bid! Heavens and earth, which kind soul had made a move to save him from continuing to be embarrassed?
Although the other party only added the minimum 1,000 gold coins, the sound still felt like heavenly music to Mittel Tengshan's ears.
At this moment, he only wanted to deeply thank the person who had bid. When he saw that it was the person in VIP Private Room No. 6, his favorable impression of the Xiao Clan members immediately reached its limit.
As the auctioneer of this large-scale auction, how could Mittel Tengshan not know that the person in VIP Room No. 6 was from the newly risen Dou Wang clan, the Xiao Clan?
"The Xiao Clan really knows how to play! If there is a chance in the future, we should definitely start more collaborations with them!"
This was currently Mittel Tengshan's most sincere thought.
As for the others at the auction, they were all looking at VIP Room No. 6 as if they were looking at a fool. Even if the Xiao Clan is a new Dou Wang clan with plenty of money, it shouldn't be spent like this, right?
At this moment, many people took Xiao Lin's bid as the Xiao Clan showing off or being obsessed with face!
To this, Xiao Lin could only give them two words: "Hehe."
"Good, the honored guest in Room 6 bids 11,000 gold coins. Is there anyone else offering a higher price?"
Having recovered his senses, Mittel Tengshan immediately asked. However, still no one spoke to bid against Xiao Lin. But Mittel Tengshan didn't care at all anymore.
As long as this A Guide to Elementary Formations didn't fail to sell today, he had a way out!
"11,000 gold coins once!"
"11,000 gold coins twice!"
"11,000 gold coins thrice! Good, deal! From this moment on, this A Guide to Elementary Formations belongs to the honored guest in Room 6."
Xiao Lin wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he felt that Mittel Tengshan's speed in announcing the deal this time was too fast. One must know that in the previous biddings, the interval every time Mittel Tengshan asked would be no less than five seconds.
However, this time, the interval had actually shortened to three seconds!
What did that represent? It showed that Mittel Tengshan also wanted to get rid of this A Guide to Elementary Formations early. Looking at him, it seemed he was afraid Xiao Lin might regret it.
Sure enough, from the announcement of the deal to A Guide to Elementary Formations being delivered to Xiao Lin's hands, the total time definitely didn't exceed three minutes!
After getting his hands on this A Guide to Elementary Formations, a smile curved at the corners of Xiao Lin's mouth. For this auction trip, all the items he had expected to bid for had been acquired!
Next, he only needed to watch the show.